Photo stolen from Biena Magbitang, 2012
Hello. I am Jonathan P. de Santos, a portable reporter in Manila.
I write and edit things at Coconuts Manila and write things for Vera Files.
I used to be a general assignment reporter for Yahoo! Southeast Asia. I also used to cover the Senate of the Philippines for the Sun.Star network of community newspapers.
Before that, I reported on the House of Representatives and the Senate for the Philippine Gazette, an English-language tabloid that has since stopped publishing. That was probably not my fault.
I have also been a senior reporter/sub-editor/lackey for China Business Philippines, a monthly business magazine. While there, I wrote 10 of 12 cover stories and was involved in all aspects of production save actual printing. That was probably my fault.
In between, I have contributed to newspapers, magazines, to the fabricated memory of a socialite construction magnate, and to the viewing pleasure of hearing-impaired Americans who need subtitles on their reruns of 1980s game shows.
I took up Library and Information Science at the University of the Philippines, as well as more electives and PE classes than anyone had a right to. While there, I fell in love, fell out of love, passed classes, passed out on campus and was the sort of student professors shook their heads (and fists) at before muttering “and he has such potential.” I am now a productive member of society, so they must have done some things right.
I want to write stories, not just the news.
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Email: misterdesantos@gmail.com
Your comment about me leaving school was very inspiring. And I’m not saying this because anything can inspire me at this point.
Great blog!!!!
That’s kind of you to say.
Don’t worry too much. We’re all doing our best to get through life and, man, I believe in few things but I believe in sheer force of will. While on your break, try to check out Firefly. It’s an old sci-fi series that is wiser than it seems.